Mr. Rice's Secret (2000)

On a dare, twelve-year old, terminally ill Owen Walters sneaks into the mortuary and videotapes Mr. Rice's funeral. Later, Owen and his friends break into Mr. Rice's house to watch the tape. In the bedroom, they discover a sealed envelope addressed to Owen - a letter from Mr. Rice, written in his secret code. Owen soon discovers that Mr. Rice has left him a medieval code ring, a treasure map and a series of clues. Clues that will lead him on a surreal treasure hunt and one steop closer to his destiny - which may save his life.

Unusable DVD

I am unable to view Mr. Rice's Dream ... it shows DVD/R on the screen only. I do not want to return this item as it would mean another shipping cost. The lesson learned is to buy DVDs from a store where it is much easier to make a return. May 27, 2008

A reply to Conrad Spoke, an anti-Christ, below.

***** Warning, Spoilers *****

I knew as soon as I saw Conrad Spoke's review below that I just had to get this movie.

After viewing the movie for myself and revisiting the afore mentioned offensive review I can, with confidence, refute his claims and rebuke his falsehoods.

I'm not sure why, but for some reason this chap claims that anyone sacrificing their lives for another is someone to be derided.

Obviously, he has forgotten, or never appreciated, the risk to her own life, his mother took in bringing his miserable life into this world.

Being a mother who almost died giving birth and whose own baby sleeps with the angels; I am able to speak with some authority on the fact that many mothers still do take their own lives into their hands to bring the miracle of life into this world.

He has also forgotten the many generations of soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, Merchant Marines, doctors, nurses, police, fire fighters and Emergency Medical Technicians who have given their lives to save the lives of others and who fought to purchase the rights and freedoms that we appreciate today.

He also claims that science cured Owen and not the potion that was gifted to him by Mr. Rice.

That also is untrue.

While he WAS getting better, it wasn't until Owen took the stopper off the vial and accidentally spilled some of the potion into his open wound, (which, incidentally immediately cured his cut.....remember that?) that the Hodgkin's disease was cured, since the potion went straight into his blood stream and didn't have to travel throughout his body by being swallowed.

Immediately after that, his hair grew back in; he had more strength and more energy.

His friend (who was the one with Leukemia, not Owen) was dying and Owen knew that he had contributed to his friend's death by luring him into the beating he was given by Owen's other "friends".

So, rather than being selfish and hogging all of the potion for himself, (he could have gotten 2 lifetimes out of that vial since it had already cured all disease from his body when it fell in his cut) he decided to do the right thing and give his friend the same gift that had been given to him.....a lifetime without disease.

A person doesn't need a "consent form" to correct the damage they caused and since his friend communicated to Owen several times that he wished to live and not die; Owen had what, in the medical field is called, implied consent.

They have to use it all the time when they get patients in the E.R. who are unconscious or mentally unsound.

Once a person is cured they can make their own decisions, but to withhold life saving medical aid is tantamount to murder and that, you can be legally held liable for.

Having been a United States Army, Military Police soldier, I know whereof I speak.

Anyway, that is how Owen knew that he had a life worth living, and losing and that it is in what you do with your life that matters.

He was able to make a positive difference in someone else's life and that is what life is all about...being of benefit to others, and contributing to life; not being a burden on the world and a waste of oxygen.

Yes, Owen had a chance to know a portion of what Jesus gave to us all when He died on the cross for our sins to appease His Father's wrath with us, His unruly and unrepentant children, and earn back for us, through His own willing sacrifice, the promise of eternal life with God our Father.

And that was the greatest gift that Mr. Rice gave to Owen.

The gift of love.

I truly pity the person who has no love or charity in their hearts and who feels the need to impose their misery upon everyone else.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Grinch.

November 25, 2007

Christian Propaganda

** SPOILER ALERT **

This movie reminds me of an old joke. A guy tells his friend, "My dog just wrote a mystery novel."

"What? How does a dog write a mystery novel?"

"He starts with the ending and works backwards."

That seems to be how all "Christian message" movies are written. First, write a list of all the "good" Jesus stuff: sacrifice, life after death, etc. Leave out the "bad" Jesus stuff: pick the wrong god and go to hell.

Next, outline some of the tritest character types ever used in family stories: the Standard Adolescent Male; the threatening dad who never quite beats his child on-screen; the brainless "what he said" eye candy mom; the chicken friend; the bully friend alpha male trouble maker; the worse bully; the dog.

David Bowie is the dog. He's also a middle aged neighbor who rakes leaves a lot. He's also Jesus. The kid, Owen, goes to this guy for comforts which are never clearly specified. It must be something good, because the big bribe is a magic decoder ring. Clunky flashbacks show that Owen was bald, therefore very sick. Mr. Rice assures him, "You are very special, Owen." Instead of running away, Owen watches Rice install a cool birdhouse. (If you want to know what metaphor the cool birdhouse represents, you will have to have to attend an "Understanding `Mr. Rice's Secret'" seminar in a church somewhere.)

Owen gets better. There are vague suggestions that a hospital is involved.

Rice dies, for no apparent reason. Owen, the teenager, is compelled to sneak into the funeral and videotape it, for no apparent reason. His bully friend forces the gang to break into Rice's house, for no apparent reason. Owen finds a Very Special Book of clues written by Mr. Rice. It addresses Owen directly! Oh, joy! Mr. Rice speaks to Owen from beyond the grave!

The Very Special Book starts Owen on a Harry Potter-esque, dark-of-night treasure hunt which involves the decoder ring and grave robbing. That's right, grave robbing. (The working title was "Exhuming Mr. Rice" - I kid you not - which they were too lazy to erase from the end titles.) In the casket, with the dead guy Rice, Owen finds a key. An actual key, a slap-you-in-the-back-of-the-head, undisguised metaphor. The key opens the birdhouse. (Be sure and tell me all about that seminar). Ooh, goody, more of those creepy "Hi, Owen" notes read by flashlight. One more treasure map and, ta-daah! Owen unearths a Very Special box containing a big test tube full of green glowing liquid. Several empty tubes and another beyond-the-grave note explain that Rice has used this Elixir of Life to live for centuries. But - oh, bless his heart - Rice bequeaths the last magic test tube to Owen.

And then - oh, bless his heart - Owen sneaks into a hospital and pours it down the gullet of an estranged leukemia friend who is much sicker. The kid is UNCONCIOUS. There is no consent form, no adult supervision. Just a lot of Bravery Moment music.

Now Owen is ecstatic, climbing to the precarious peak of his second story roof and screaming, "Now I have a life worth losing!" His parents are only mildly alarmed by this, since the boy's new philosophy is so compelling.

This is the kind of GET IT? story telling that only makes sense if you are already familiar with Christian dogma. Otherwise you might assume the filmmakers were part of some creepy death cult. Well, guess what? They are part of some creepy death cult: Christianity. These are the standard, gruesome themes of life-via-death and a dependence on someone else's blood sacrifice. I have no use whatsoever for this morbid view of life. These "Christian Values" are simply repugnant to me.

Any kid who is force-fed this tripe, as an appetizer to a seven course bible meal, needs to notice one important element of this story, one which is neatly hidden from view. Owen's life has already been saved: by science. He had leukemia, received the best treatments that medical research could offer, and got better. He wasn't saved by a magic potion or a magic theology.

But in the minds of the hacks who produce such propaganda, science doesn't matter much. They show just enough of the hospital to assure you that it is trivial compared to the death cult stuff. Medical science is all about extending life, and that's not nearly as much fun as glamorizing death.

Telling children that death equals life - in a bible or in a movie - is just plain sick. April 19, 2007

DVD

The DVD arrived quickly and in great condition . The only drawback was the shipping price . April 11, 2007

great find

I discovered this movie accidentally on a lazy summer Sunday afternoon, flipping channels on the TV. I enjoyed it, but the 11-14 year olds that I showed it to related to it even more. The film explores issues of disease and death, responsiblity, bullying, friendship, and finding meaning in life. David Bowie plays Mr. Rice, who dies at the very beginning of the film. However, he is anything but dead because of the legacy he passes down to Owen, a boy struggling through early adolescence and cancer therapy. Owen is haunted by the reality of his own probable death, as he faces his peers, and goes on a quest to solve a riddle left to him by Mr. Rice. October 28, 2006

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